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The Overlord Series FAQ
FAQ}} :v1.98 — 49''' Q&As — 8/27/2010'' ::for the PC versions of Overlord, Overlord: Raising Hell and Overlord II. :Edited by © 2010 Introduction : from Overlord.]] :This FAQ is intended for the fans who have enjoyed, played and finished the games, at least once, and are wondering about what they may have missed. In short, the FAQ is written for those that want to get more out of the games! :Note: I am assuming you know how the game works more or less, i.e. you learned the basics from playing the games. :The FAQ makes use of the Overlord Wiki, mainly highlighting things of note. Should you miss specific details, feel free to check with the wiki, it is quite content complete. Overview :Here you will find a compact summary of how the works: :* Even though the series does have a few RPG elements, and you have to solve quests, these are more like log entries or a reminder in what areas of game you still have things to do. You do not really talk to NPCs (quest givers), or gain experience (XP), or level up. You loot, solve simple quests in an relatively linear, partitioned game world. : , the Minion Master]] :* You play the role of the so-called Overlord, who is set before the task to reconquer 'his' domains in the World. Your main allies in these story-driven adventures are your minions. Instead of dirtying your own hands, you send in your minions to fight, loot, or help solve puzzles. At all times the Minion Master Gnarl is at your side (by voice), advising the Overlord on what to do next. :* As Overlord you have the choice between becoming "evil" and "really evil". But it is up to you what path to take. Note that the game slightly changes, depending on your actions. You will see this in the way the peasants react to you, and also in the way the game endings differ. :* Your seat of power and base of operations is either the Dark Tower (Overlord) or the Netherworld Tower (Overlord II), letting you directly teleport into your domains. Here you also collect the spoils of your looting campaigns. Various upgrades for Health and Mana, but also for your maximum minion horde size, plus your gold. :* Since Overlording can be a lonely job, you will be able to choose a mistress or several during the game. And to make them feel at home, you can spend your painstakingly looted gold on Tower upgrades, to nicen up the place. Expect some romantic entanglement as a reward. :* The Smelters (Overlord) or Forge Stones (Overlord II) you find exploring the game world, let you create new weapons (axe, mace or sword), armour, and helmets in the Forge. For these you need to collect resources (gold, Lifeforce, Dark Crystals, and Fairy Gems) to then forge that piece of equipment. There are even unique item moulds to be found (Overlord: Raising Hell only), to create those extra special weapons and armour. :* As mentioned, gaining XP plays no part in this game, all the many creatures and enemies encounter yield diverse loot, but more importantly Lifeforce, which fuels your minion army. from Overlord II.]] Health and Mana :* The most important player statistic is Health (zero health means death). And since the game only autosaves at specific locations, you will need to replay parts of the game up to the point were you died. It is possible to replenish Health by either drinking Health potions, returning to the Tower, or by imbuing the right minions (Greens) into your armour, for health regeneration. Tip: Splitting the coconut-like fruits falling from palm trees in Everlight will yield health potions. :* The Overlord is not unfamiliar with magic, so you will be able to cast "simple" Spells that use up Mana. Replenish Mana by drinking Mana potions, or return to the Tower. :* Note: In Overlord II you simply need to stand next to a Netherworld gate to recharge on Health and Mana. Also note there are special weapons and armour that allow the regeneration of Health and Mana, this depends on the game though. Crime, Looting and Trade :* In the Overlord series bad deeds, e.g. killing innocents, will have repercussions, but only slight ones, i.e. you will be attacked. Such actions will have an effect on your Corruption or Tyranny Rating, though. riding wolves.]] :* There are almost no restricting to looting. Any readily available container may be destroyed without consequence. Though pillaging 'locked' homes and houses may well be counter-productive, i.e. if you want to stay a relatively "good" Overlord. :* Note that your minions will pick up all sorts of armour and weapons the Overlord has no use for, while looting. This upgrades the strength of your minions. A freshly spawned minion is at 100% strength, with the right loot this can be upped to around 400%, turning your little blighters into a force to be reckoned with. :* There is no 'real' trade in the . The gold you 'earn' can either be spent on forging or on so-called Tower upgrades. There are no merchants or shops in the game. Item Respawn, Inventory, Storage :* The partitioned domains in the World once 'conquered' (in this context meaning you simply killed all the enemies), will keep on respawing most of the loot containers and some of the creatures, when you return to this area of the game (i.e. exit, loadscreen, return). This potentially leaves the player with endless loot, Lifeforce, and quite importantly minion equipment. :* You will not have to burden yourself with item storage or the micromanagement of an inventory, since both do not exist. Anything picked up like gold is simply stored at the Tower automatically, or directly consumed, i.e. potions. The Overlord can not carry anything, other than his preferred weapon. Minions are used to move and carry objects. Levelling Up, Spells :* There is no levelling up via XP by solving quests or killing foes. In the progression of the game the Overlord gains access to more and more powerful objects that turn him into a more powerful character. :* Spells are upgraded by finding specific objects in the World, once they have been returned to the Tower, they become available to the Overlord. Time, Playtime :* There is no day-night cycle in the game, and time does not play any role in the game. So play at your leisure. :* Comment: Playing Overlord with Overlord: Raising Hell very thoroughly took me 52 hours the first time, 34 hours on the second run. The playtimes for Overlord II were shorter 42h and 24h respectively. (AEon) Combat & Magic with salamander mounts, chucking fire balls on the move.]] :* The Overlord's most important weapon are the minions he controls. There are four different tribes, the ::* Browns — the Fighters, ::* Reds — the Archers, ::* Greens — the Assassins, and ::* Blues — the Healers :: with specific abilities. It is up to the player to properly take advantage of their traits. :* But the Overlord does not have to stand idly by when a fight is afoot, with his mighty weapon in hand he can dish out powerful strikes, to support his minions. :* Should that not be enough, the Overlord can use his quite devastating, though Mana hungry, Spells. Non-Continuous World :* The game are not a continues world, e.g. like Two Worlds, but a sectioned / partitioned world. :* Each domain covers a set of locations the player can freely explore (excluding locked areas). :* Entering new sectioned areas requires a level load. :* It should be noted that most areas in the games stay accessible throughout, but there are a few exceptions. Interaction, NPCs :* The 'normal' interaction with NPCs is either to smite them, or not to do so. :* Important dialogues are 'packed' into cutscenes, so you will not be able to accidentally miss them. :* NPCs will comment on your passing, and a few may actually talk to you about some problem they have, asking for help. General Gameplay & Tips Overlord Series gameplay Goals? ]] :There are quite a few things you can/will want to achieve when playing the game: ::* Unravel the story around the current Overlord. ::* Collect all the Health, Mana, and Command upgrades. ::* Upgrade your minions and horde size. ::* Forge powerful weapons and armour. ::* Gain "good" or "evil" mastery. ::* Loot all the gold your minions can get their mitties on. ::* Upgrade your Tower. ::* Go for the romantic entanglement with your mistress(es). ::* Solve all the quests and explore all the domains thoroughly. ::* Have fun! Interacting with Objects? :There is not really that much the Overlord can interact with directly in the (weapon use on loot, barriers, or foes is not meant here). :The interaction is usually restricted to controlling large machines, since gates can usually only be opened with minions, and only they can carry objects: : Overlord: ::* Interact with the Tower and Waypoint gates. ::* Interact with various Dark Tower interfaces. : Overlord II: ::* Interact with the Tower and Waypoint gates. ::* Interact with various Netherworld Tower interfaces. ::* Ships ::* Ballistas ::* Catapults : All other interactions in the World take place indirectly, using the minions. How to Run faster? :The only time your running speed will be increased, is when the Overlord possesses a minion via Possession Gate in Overlord II. Your running speed will then be that of minions. How to attack Innocents? :Innocent beings in the show a green marker above their heads when you target lock them via -key. Minions you send their way or when using sweep will not attack them. Thus it is not possible to accidentally attack innocents. This is also true for the Overlord's attack via -key. :To attack innocents you need to first target lock them, then and only then can they be killed. :Note: You should be aware that killing innocents can up your Corruption (Overlord), and increase your Destruction (Tyranny Rating, Overlord II)... something a "good" Overlord would tend to avoid. Fleeing from Foes in Combat? :In theory it should be possible to outrun your foes, e.g. by escaping via the next Tower or Waypoint gate, but since the autosaving is quite restrictive, you may need to replay and re-battle already defeated foes in that area. Not recommended. :The Overlord's running speed is only slightly higher than that of his foes. So it is possible to outrun them, spawn a few more minions to return to the enemies again. But in several cases this will not work, since you are in an "arena" (i.e. a closed-off area) situation, where running will usually let you avoid hits, but not escape the enemy. :The tactic to apply here, is actually to call back minions from a combat situation that is getting out of control (e.g. against overwhelming odds or an ambush), to then regroup them. can swim and revive minions.]] Harvest / Loot more Quickly? :Even in the more recent Overlord II, the swept minions will tend not to pick up all the gold that chests or vases contain, without sweeping the horde over the gold several times. Only then will one of the minions pick up those small gold sacks. :Solution: If the lootable objects are accessible to the Overlord, it may save time to simply hit the chest with your weapon yourself ( -key), that way the loot 'explodes' into the Overlord directly, instantly collecting everything. To sic your horde on the loot, will still be the best solution in most cases, though. Combat Tips? :After playing the game for a while it becomes quite clear that magic, i.e. the spells can be useful, e.g. to help the minions in combat. Alas the Mana supply is quickly drained and there is no Mana regeneration in the : ::* The basic tactic in an skirmish is to hit the foes with as much power as possible, thus cutting any combat time short. ::* In many situations it is best to send your whole horde on the enemy. ::* If possible, place the Reds somewhere elevated, to keep them out of direct enemy contact, letting them overlook the battle field. Their ranged attack, using fire balls, will add welcome support. ::* Example minion horde setup of 50 minions: Choose something like 20 Browns, 10 Reds, 10 Greens, and 10 Blues. This lets you overcome fire and poison barriers, retrieve items in water, revive dead minions, but leaves you enough striking power. ::* Contrary to the basic practice — using your minions for all the combat grunt work — against some enemies with dangerous-to-minions ranged attacks, it helps to shield them using the Overlord's own armour, thus blocking e.g. arrows. :Overlord: ::* When you encounter the Seaserpent in the caves (The Moist Hollows) in Heaven's Peak and in the Understreets, put Greens on a Guard Marker, to have them leap on the serpent. ::* Use fire spells on the chained peasants in the Infernal Abyss, to quickly open up the plant gates. ::* Not really combat related, but your minions may at times get 'stuck' trying to retrieve loot, or breaking objects. When you observe this, either recall them ( ) or simply destroy the breakable objects yourself via -key. ::* Visiting the Temple Construction Site in the Golden Hills Stronghold can be quite dangerous for your minions, i.e. the 'Rolling Rock Monsters' will simply run them over. In such situations it can be good to select all minions and then park them safely out of harms way using a Guard Marker. A properly equipped Overlord can take out creatures by himself this far into the game. ::* The Inferno spell, as a powerful ranged attack, is very useful against enemies that have a ranged attack, e.g. archers or bomb-throwing dwarves. ::* In the Ruborian Desert the Sandworms can be a real annoyance, and you have to kill them to get at some of the upgrades and treasure chests. To kill them, target lock on beetle egg, then send a minion ( ), keep -key held, sweep minion with egg into sand pit where the Sandworm is, the 'exploding beetles' will follow the egg. The Sandworm swallows the beetle, and explodes, after the second beetle the Sandworm finally dies. :Overlord II: ::* Once you enter the Empire Heartland, possess a minion, disguise them, and after the gargantuan breaks open the camp gate, it turns out that the disguise lets the minions take out all the Empire soldiers on the road, one by one. Strangely the other soldiers nearby do not get alarmed by such attacks. Move Guard Markers? :It may not be apparent, but Guard Markers can actually be repositioned. Very useful to reposition a group of minions in battles. :Simply lock on the Guard Marker as target via -key (press and hold), and then sweep the minions on the marker. Backtracking :A well prepared fighter, is a fighter that survives the next battle! :When exploring new areas the Overlord should always have a high Health level, plenty of Mana also never hurts. Remember, when the Overlord dies, you usually loose part of the game progress, something to avoid at all costs. :Systematic looting will normally fill up on both. But additionally remember where the last Blood Pit and Mana Pit was located, letting you go back and sacrifice a few minions to up Health and Mana respectively (Overlord and Overlord: Raising Hell). :In Overlord II also remember where the last Netherworld gate was located. In its proximity the Overlord will regenerate Health and Mana for free. :If you loose most of your minions in an ambush, or accidentally blow up many of them (happens a lot more often than you might think), it is also good to remember where the last Minion Gates were, to replenish your horde. Always keep the horde at maximum strength, who knows when you might need those few additional minions. Sweeping path edges? :In Overlord it can at times be less than apparent where your minions might be able to venture in the game, where the Overlord obviously can not go. :Tip: When playing the game for the first time it is thus always a good idea to sweep your minions along the edges of all the paths. There are quite a few areas that look inaccessible, but actually are. A dead giveaway is loot you spot off the trodden path. :In Overlord II this is less of an issue, since the accessible paths are quite clearly marked in the mini-map (bottom-left of HUD). Revisited areas, more Items? :During the game you will revisit areas, a second and more times, the areas will be slightly different, though. ::* Most lootable items will simply respawn, letting you endlessly loot. ::* All beaten strong enemies, and bosses will permanently be dead and gone. ::* Some chests and other more valuable loot is one-time-only, and so will not respawn. E.g. the mine carts filled with gold in the Glittering Mine in the Golden Hills. ::* Many of the weaker or peaceful creatures, like beetles and sheep will endlessly respawn. ::* Incidentally so will killed peasants in Spree and Heaven's Peak. Quieten down Jester? :When in the Dark Tower's Throne Room (Overlord) you may at times want to listen to what the female slaves or your mistress have to say. But the quite impertinent Jester will keep on babbling 'titles', voiding any other potential dialogues. :Tip: Hit/kick Jester a few times via -key to shut him up for some time. Character Building Spending valuable resources? :In Overlord gold and minions are your more valuable resources once you have found all the smelters. :Tips: ::* Get Health Regeneration by imbuing Greens into armour. ::* Be sure to look out for moulds in Overlord: Raising Hell to create special items. :In Overlord II gold, Dark Crystals, Fairy Gems, and minions are valuable resources, once you have found all the Forge Stones. :Tips: ::* ... :***Add more suggestions on what to forge! Advanced Looting? :Tips on how to get more gold out of the game. Generally you have to 'walk that extra mile' to get to the loot: ::* The best minions to break things are the upgraded Browns, with a strength of 200% and above. This 'sweeped tornado' will quickly destroy anything in its path. Greens also work, but Blues and Reds will tend to get 'stuck' trying to break objects. :Overlord: ::* Loot anything breakable, especially treasure chests and vases. Usually these do not yield much gold, but there is a lot of them in the World. ::* Visiting the Heaven's Peak cemetery, be sure to loot the three 'small chapels' there for gold. The Overlord may need to break down their doors himself, though. ::* Sacks of gold yield 500 to 1000 gold per sack. ::* The four mine carts with gold in the Glittering Mine (Golden Hills, Overlord) yield 3000 gold per cart. Note: Unusual for wooden barrels that normally contain potions, in the mine they actually contain gold! ::* Especially if you choose Velvet (many expensive Tower and minion upgrades) as your mistress you will run out of gold quite quickly, forcing you to re-loot certain domains. Here some profitable locations of note: ::** After defeating Sir William, Angelis Keep, yields at least 2000 gold per trip. Possibly the best location for re-looting. ::** In the Brewery (Golden Hills Stronghold) there is a huge barrel you need to move with your minions to reveal a secret room. A re-loot yields almost 1000 gold every time. ::** The three 'small chapels' in the Heaven's Peak cemetery yield about 800 gold. ::* In the Evernight Abyss at the back side of the Tower gate, there are some chests to loot. These can easily be overlooked since the Overlord can not go there without activating the portal interface, so sweep in your minions. ::* Also in the Evernight Abyss, after pushing back the main stage wall for the second time, visit the elven actors. You need to blow up a wall here, in the pit with the bombs, blow up the rock barrier blocking the path under the floor grates, where a few elves are trapped, to find some treasure. :Overlord II: ::* Be sure to collect the rare and quite valuable (for upgrades and forging) Dark Crystals and where to find them. ::* Also valuable (for forging) are the Fairy Gems, and here is where to find them. Boost the Weapon/Armour stats? :In Overlord the Forge lets you imbue / upgrade forged weapons with minions, these yield specific bonuses, like extra damage or health regeneration. :'''''See the Forge page for all the details. :In Overlord II the items you forge have a fixed recipe, i.e set of requirements, and can not be upgraded further. Romance? There is quite a bit of potential for romance in the . This is always connected with being nice to your mistress(es) by spending your hard-earned loot on Tower upgrades. :In Overlord there are two options, depending on the mistress you choose to stay with towards the end of the game: ::* Rose — the first mistress. Simply decline Velvet after Sir William's death, then buy here some nice things. ::* Velvet — the alternate mistress. Choose here after Sir William's death, dumping Rose, then buy here quite a few, quite costly Tower upgrades. :In Overlord II there are three (actually five) options, again spending gold on Tower upgrades will impress the mistresses: ::* Kelda — once she is your mistress, buy all Tower upgrades for her. ::* Juno — make her the current First Mistress, then buy all 'her' Tower upgrades. ::* Dark Fay — now make her the current First Mistress, and buy of all 'her' preferred Tower upgrades. There is a slightly more ethereal romantic variation possible, if you killed Fay, this time with Ghost Fay. ::* Spoiler: There actually is the possibility for a romantic foursome. If you buy two Netherworld tower upgrades per mistress (e.g. Kelda candles & throne, Juno statues & alcoves, Ghost/Dark Fay rugs & bed) and keep the Overlord banner, the mistresses will agree to a foursome romantic entanglement. Additionally you receive another "Health Upgrade", not one you will see in the throne room, but your Health is upped by one "block", none the less. Quests What Quests are there? :In Overlord you can look up the quests you solved (usually all if you play thoroughly) by hitting the -key, looking into the quest history. An explicit list of quests is actually too trivial to be useful. :In Overlord II hitting -key also lets you look up the solved quests. Alignment-related Quests? :In Overlord there are several quest choices that let you change the Overlord's level of Corruption. You can either choose the be a awfully "good" Overlord, who is cheered on by his peasants, with around 0% Corruption, or turn to the really dark side with 100% Corruption. ::For a complete list of these alignment changing quests, see either ::* Increasing Corruption or ::* Decreasing Corruption. :In Overlord II the equivalent gameplay mechanic is called the Tyranny Rating. Here you can either kill and destroy everything, the path of Destruction, or the subdue your peasants via Domination. ::For a complete list of these alignment changing quests, see either ::* Domination or ::* Destruction. Quests easily missed? :In Overlord there is one quest you will only get if you take the "really evil" Corruption path. After killing everyone you encounter at the start of the game, the peasants of Spree will fear you, offering a female 'sacrifice', plus letting you 'persuade' other females to work at the Dark Tower. This quest is not available on the "good" path. :Several other quests have a "good" and an "evil" outcome, but they are all readily available. The rest of the quests are 'neutral'. What different Endings are there? :In Overlord there are two endings: ::* The "good" ending occurs when you have a low Corruption value (probably <50%). ::* The "evil" ending occurs when with high Corruption (>50%). ::These endings also take into account what mistress you chose in the end, i.e. Rose would typically be the "good" ending mistress, whereas Velvet represents the evil ending mistress. :In Overlord II there are also two endings: ::* The "Domination" ending occurs when you have a Tyranny Rating that leans towards subduing your underlings. ::* The "Destruction" ending occurs with a Tyranny Rating leaning towards destruction. :: Additionally there is a scene showing the Overlord on his throne with three mistresses, should you have killed Fay, it will show Ghost Fay, otherwise it will be Dark Fay. Gameplay Alternatives? :There are a few gameplay alternatives in the these primarily centre on the Overlord's choices in the game, and thus his alignment. The story is almost unchanged, though. :Overlord: ::* The path "good" or "evil", thus defining the Overlord's level of Corruption is the central difference you can make in the game. This changes the outcome of certain quests, but not the overarching story. ::** You either are loved buy your peasants or hated (may have slight influence on the loot amounts). But nothing much else, apparently. ::** You will have to look out for all the options to be really evil, slightly more difficult to pull off, than simply being "good". ::* You can choose your mistress either Rose or Velvet: ::** The mistress defines the look of the Tower, i.e. what the Overlord can buy to change that look. Potential for romantic entanglement. ::** Their comments on the Overlords progress in the game will differ. ::** It also defined what minions will get upgraded: Rose upgrades the Browns and Blues, whereas Velvet does so for the Reds and Greens. ::** And this also determines who helps you against the Wizard at the end of the game. :Overlord II: ::* The path of Destruction or Domination (Tyranny) is central to the way the game plays out for the Overlord, though this does not really change much in the story. ::** You can choose to let your third mistress, Fay die, or not. Thus Ghost Fay or Dark Fay move into the Netherworld Tower. ::** Again, each mistress makes a different set of Tower upgrades available, that the Overlord may then pay for. More than one romantic entanglement is possible. ::** When confronting the Empire towards the end of the game, the choice of your First Mistress, determines what minions will gain access to mounts. Breaks in the Game? :Certain places in the game can only be visited once, and are blocked from the on. :Overlord: ::* Golden Hills — Once Goldo's Royal Halls collapse they are no longer accessible. :Overlord II: ::* Nordberg Commune — Once 'resolved', can no longer be visited. ::* Nordhaven — You will only be able to take the sea voyage to the Everlight Reef once, then you have to use a Netherworld gate to get there. ::* Everlight Temple — The Spider Queen arena, and the two levels with loot accessable via lift, are only available once. The lift is then stuck on the 3rd level. ::* Wasteland Sanctuary — Once you have defeated the Salamander King and exited the sanctury, the upper level there will no longer be accessible. The Overlord and Water? :Since your minions, except for the Blues can not swim, the Overlord may tend to think that he can not walk into water either, but he actually can. :It is important to remember this, to get to a few areas in the game, especially in the Evernight Forest. Not to worry the, the minions will usually find a way to follow the Overlord via alternate dry paths. The Minions and Water? :Also note, even though minions are clever enough not to walk into water, if they can not swim (Browns, Reds and Greens), the Overlord can force them into water by sweeping. This can be quite accidental, but they will drown like rats none-the-less. So caution is advised. The same is true for the proximity to fire. How to open the Brewery? :You can not open the steel gates to the Brewery in the Golden Hills Stronghold, e.g. with bombs. Alas, this is one of the illogical times, that may really frustrate players of Overlord. :Solution: As it turns out you have to first defeat Sir William at Angelis Keep in Heaven's Peak, thus voiding his planned marriage. The king of the dwarves Goldo will then and only then retrieve his wedding present, opening up the gates to the Brewery. Breaking the 3. hill back door? :Towards the end of Overlord II, the third time you have to conquer a hill, in this case enter a fort to place the catapult that will toss the Tower Heart into the shield of Empire City, there is the matter of getting into the fort. :The only way I was able to enter the fort was using the back door. Trying to explode bombs as close to the door as possible, did not really work. I then needed to use Salamanders to break down the back door. Meaning you have to choose Fay (Ghost or Dark Fay actually) as First Mistress to make these mounts available for the Reds. (AEon) Save Elven rebels on platform? :Towards the end of Overlord II, some elves begin a rebellion in Everlight Town, opening the gate to the elven village there. At the end of the path through the village there is a bamboo platform, stocked with quite a few bombs. A direct attack with Reds will blow up the platform along with the 'innocent' elves, good to up the Destruction Tyranny Rating, but bad for Domination. :How can one save those elves? You need to send in mounted Greens, note the spider-webbed wall to left of the platform, to shoo the elves off the platform. You can then subdue them. Places Important Locations? :Here a list of the main domains in the : :Overlord: ::* Mellow Hills ::* Evernight Forest ::* Heaven's Peak ::* Golden Hills ::* Ruborian Desert :Overlord: Raising Hell: ::* Mellow Hills Abyss ::* Heaven's Peak Abyss ::* Golden Abyss ::* Evernight Abyss ::* Infernal Abyss :Overlord II: ::* The Netherworld ::* Nordberg ::* Everlight ::* Empire Heartlands ::* Wastelands Where are the Moulds? :The moulds only become available in the various abysses in Overlord: Raising Hell: ::* Armour of Fire — Golden Abyss ::* Axe of Confusion ] — Mellow Hills Abyss ::* Harvesting Helmet — Heaven's Peak Abyss ::* Mace of Doom — Evernight Abyss ::* Sword of Life-Stealing — Golden Abyss Curiosities & Speculations Favourite character Quotations? :During the long hours playing the you may have witnessed many comments from the many characters, here is a collection of some favourites: :Quotations: ::* Gnarl — the Minion Master, see also Gnarl's Musings. ::* Minions — the Overlord's faithful servants. ::* Quaver — the Fourth Overlord's jester. ::* Kelda — the mistresses of the Fourth Overlord. ::* Juno ::* Fay ::* Rose — the mistresses of the Third Overlord. ::* Velvet The Overlord's Darker Moments? :There are a few situations when playing a more darkly inclined Overlord is possible: :Overlord: ::* Kill a total of 300 peasants to get an additional 15% Corruption. ::* 'Persuade' Spree's female peasants to work at your Tower. ::* Dump the competent Rose for here materialistic sister Velvet. ::* Trade the Elven Race for lots of lovely gold, at Goldo's Royal Halls in the Golden Hills. ::* Deprive the Elves of their Mother Goddess statue, just to use if as decoration in your Tower. ::* Burn down the Elves' Sacred Grove — the last untainted place in Evernight Forest — turning it into blackened wasteland. ::* Free the Elves in the Glittering Mine only to fatten the slugs by feeding the Elves to them. :Overlord II: ::* Light the oil pits in Nordhaven, not only polluting the land, but causing global warming. ::* Drain the life completely out of Queen Fay, turning her into Ghost Fay. Though corrupting a being of light into Dark Fay, is also pretty evil. ::* Actually destroy every being you encounter, wiping out just about all living beings in the game. ::* Destroying the little the slaves have, their huts, in the Empire Slums, and also the villages of the poor blighters in the Wastelands. ::* Needlessly destroy your faithful minions using your Minion spell ( ), just to gain some health, looking the minion in the eyes while doing so. ::* Purposely blow up the platform with several "innocent" elves in the Elven slave village (past gate in Everlight Towm) to stop the rebels. Speculations and Musings? :Here a few game related speculations: ::* Will there be an Overlord III? ::: Nothing official seems to be known presently (8/25/2010), if the game is actually in the works, it would probably be released in June of 2011 at the earliest, two years after the release of Overlord II (just my speculation). ::* Who is the Wizard in Overlord really? ::: According to the dialogues towards the end of Overlord, the Wizard was possessed by the previous Overlord, who had been thought to have been killed by The Seven Heroes. Making him the Second Overlord. Curiosities? :Mildly strange things to note: ::* It is strange that such a huge guy as the Overlord does not have any pockets, letting him carry additional things. ::* Apparently, the Elven race in Overlord II was not destroyed in Overlord even though a Overlord with high Corruption will have killed them all. ::* The Fourth Overlord is not the son of Velvet, though he could be according to the Overlord game, but he is the son of Rose. So apparently the canonical outcome of the first game was the "good" ending. ::* The Overlord never speaks, reminiscent e.g. of Gordon Freeman from Half-Life. This is interesting, since all the other characters do a lot of talking, but strangely enough one does not actually notice his silence much. ::* After wiping out the peasants in Spree, where do the new ones come from? It is magic, apparently. ::* What kind of strange world respawns lootable containers all the while? More magic, it seems. The truth is actually weirder, and more technical. The save game files are restricted in size, thus it is not possible to 'remember' the state of every destroyable item in the World, so this information is simply not saved, and suddenly your game world resets. ::* The Wizard makes a cameo appearance in a cutscene, once you reach the far side of the dwarven village at the 'outdoor tavern' in the Golden Hills. Hooded, he walks from right to left, past the rock statue of a dwarf with pick axe and keg. Misc Bugs & Workarounds? :Presently (8/24/2010) with the Steam versions of the games Overlord, Overlord: Raising Hell, and Overlord, fully patched available for the PC, the number of bugs are quite few. But heed to the following tips anyway to avoid possible frustration: :Tips: ::* Create your own save state backups, just to be sure, or to let you replay a certain part of the game. See the Create your own Save States? Q&A. :Bugs: ::* In a very few situations the minions get stuck in geometry. Alas there is nothing you can do. In Overlord II at least they return to their hive when you leave the area, otherwise they are not only lost, but your minion horde size will be reduced (minion slot is blocked for that area). ::** At least one minion always gets stuck in the collapsing wall when the Overlord first encounters Kahn in Heaven's Peak towards the end of the game. ::* The minions have to be strongly persuaded to pick up things, e.g. gold. It usually requires several sweeps before they finally pick up those odd objects. This is also the case for minion equipment. ::* The way loot 'explodes' out of breakable objects, leads to item placements that neither the Overlord nor the minions can pick up. E.g. attacked gnomes near their hives, dropping Lifeforce on the hive not outside of it. These inaccessible items are relatively rare, but do occur. ::* In Overlord II it is possible to not get close enough to the huge gates in the Everlight Reef, thus these do not close in your face, and all the key stones are at their designated positions. If you then "solve" the key placement on the red-blue-key island, you will mess up the script controlling the order of events in this area. The only fix is to exit the reef via Netherworld gate and return again. Resetting the script. ::* In Overlord II, at the north-east gate of Nordberg, pretty much under the Ballista, there seems to be a turn-wheel 'artifact' that can not be interacted with. ::* In Overlord II you will be able to collect six Netherworld Objects#Command Upgrades (plus one secret one). But for some reason every time you enter the Minion Barracks in the Netherworld Tower, passing the minion totem, Gnarl will tell you there are more of these upgrades to be found, implying that you missed something. As far as I can tell this is simply a bug, and there are no additional Command Upgrades to be found. Create your own Save States? :The saving mechanism in the is based on automatic saves, at certain points in the game. The player can not save the game just at any point he or she likes. On the plus side, you never need to bother about saving the game state, and the save game file size requirements are very low. On the down side, you can not simply save where and when you want, and dying forces you to re-play part of the game, this can mean you loose up to 30 minutes of game time. Adding a certain degree of frustration, especially for first-time players. :There is nothing you can do about this, you can save the game as often as you like by returning to the Tower, but that does not make the save density any higher. E.g. simply exiting the area of a fight, will force you to replay that area to a certain degree. Personally I try to avoid this, and finish a region (load/save level) in one go. :Since the autosaves only 'remember' the last game state — overwriting any older states — you will not be able to replay earlier parts of the game, readily. But with the following trick you can: :Under Windows 7 (Steam install), the autosave files are located in :: :for Overlord and in :: : for Overlord II. :To create your own save states, e.g. letting you replay certain parts of the game, simply make a backup of the complete profile folder, either packing it into an archive (e.g. file) or just duplicate the folder under another name. :To skip to an older save state, simply copy the old folder over the new one. Or better rename the current folder, and copy the old one into the appropriate directory. E.g. rename to , then copy the old folder into . : Warning: Always create a backup, before you meddle with files! Cheats? In-game Console? :Alas there is no in-game console, so on-the-fly "cheating" or a change of settings is not possible. :It may be possible to use external trainers (untested). Clean HUD-free Screenshots? :There is no way to completely turn off the HUD (Heads Up Display) to take clean screenshots in the games. You will always see the Overlord and the HUD. In Overlord II the mini-map additionally obscures the view. How to play in-game .bik Movies? :Since all in-game movies are in the Bink format, look for the free Bink player at RadGameTools. Download and install the RADVideo package. :Tip: The in-game movies can be found in the and folders. Letting you watch the alternate game endings, alas without sound. How to take Screenshots? :For optimum quality, bitmap images are the way to go. Though this comes with a file size price of about 5 MB per image for screens running at a 1680x1050 pixel resolution. :To take screenshots plus get a framerate counter as a bonus use the screen-grabber tool (Google for it, free version available). It takes screenshots instantly (no noticeable lag) in format. Note the tool lets you bind any key to grab screens. I use the -key to the right of the left -key on a German keyboard, very convenient. Downloadable Content? :The expansion Overlord: Raising Hell could be called DLC for Overlord, and it is indeed a great addition that should not be missed. :Is there any downloadable content for Overlord II? : Yes, there is, the DLC is called Battle Rock Nemesis, alas only for Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, not for the PC, so far. Though this DLC seems to be something like the Dungeon arena in Overlord, not a story continuation update. Binding sweep to a key? :The makes extensive use of minion sweeping, since this can at times require very subtle control, it is recommended to bind the function to a separate key. The default buttons, will cramp your hand after a few hours. :Overlord: On Steam, on the Overlord game, and select to launch the external configuration tool. On the Controls tab bind, Sweep to e.g. Mouse Button 3. :Overlord II: On Steam, on the Overlord II game, and select to launch the external configuration tool. On the Controls tab bind, Sweep to e.g. Mouse Mouse 4. :These examples work for a Logitech MX518 optical mouse. In any case binding sweep to a 'thumb button' on your mouse is very helpful. Abbreviations : uses a few terms, and the FAQ needs to refer to them at times. To make the Q&A easier to read, here are all the commonly used abbreviations explained: ::* Overlord Series — In the context of this FAQ it relates to the PC versions of Overlord, Overlord: Raising Hell and Overlord II. ::* NPC — Non-Player Character (anyone else you can talk to in the game) ::* XP — Experience Points (controls levelling) ::* Q&A — Question & Answer (the meat of any FAQ) Feedback ::* Feedback welcome! ::* If you have additional info on a certain Q&A, please post it on the talk page. ::* Any other improvement suggestions welcome. Credits :The FAQ is based on my ( ) playing the of games. :Special thanks go to Game widow on the Wiki for support, feedback, and getting the Overlord wiki shipshape. History ::* v1.98 — 1st public version, 49 Q&As total, most of the FAQ is already in place. (8/27/2010) ::* v1.00 — Put together the basic Q&As and tips, linking them to the wiki, FAQ uses British English. (8/24/2010) ::* v0.10 — Using the Witcher wiki FAQ layout, and content structure, for this FAQ. (8/24/2010) Category:The Overlord Series Category:Overlord Category:Overlord: Raising Hell Category:Overlord II